TEMPE, Ariz.—Shen Yun Performing Arts took a Tempe audience on a journey through China’s 5,000 years of history and culture with its opening performance at the ASU Gammage Theater on March 7. 

Based in New York, Shen Yun was formed in 2006 by a group of leading classical Chinese artists with a mission to revive China’s divinely-inspired culture. 

Alicia Avent, an artist, said she enjoyed the dancing as well as the cultural aspects presented in Shen Yun.

“I think it’s very, very good. I like all the dancing, the costumes; I like that it’s cultural, and I like that the commentaries are speaking in English, and then reversing it back to Chinese,” Ms. Avent said, referring to the comments provided by the emcees between the dances providing context. 

“It’s very historical, and it’s really pretty.”

The state-of-the art digital animated backdrops also caught Ms. Avent’s attention. Ms. Avent focuses her art on creating figures, vases, and canvas painting. 

“I love how [the characters] jump off the [screen onto the stage], it seems as though they’re jumping right at you, and then there’s a live person that jumps up. It’s really coordinated well,” she said, referring to how the backdrops are used to interact with the dance performances on the stage. 

Ms. Avent’s friend, Brian, who is a dermatologist, said he found Shen Yun to be a wonderful performance.

“Wonderful show; amazing; the costumes are beautiful, and the coordinated dance—amazing,” he said. 

“I think the whole thing is just very beautiful, especially since it’s based on traditional culture. Wonderful, wonderful.”

Shen Yun will be staging three more performances at the ASU Gammage Theater Tempe until Sunday March 9. 

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts. 

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.